Chrontendo's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Chrontendo
My Playlist of Chrontendo's episodes: http://bit.ly/chrontendo-yt

From Episode 14's official web page: http://chrontendo.blogspot.com/2008/07/episode-14-is-here-and-chrontendo-goes.html
"…A historic episode, this, featuring not one but two big releases from Nintendo themselves, + … we finally move into the year 1987! I'll undoubtedly come with with some sort of 1986 debriefing/1987 introduction, but that will need to wait for next episode. Episode 14 is simply packed with too much 8-bit goodness/weirdness to fit in any more content. You even get a bonus game! There are 16 instead of 15 this time.

This episode has a pretty densely packed release schedule - 12 games released between 12/19 + 12/26. Publishers were clearly trying to get some product on the shelves before the year's end, regardless of the quality…

Back to business! This episode's gold medal goes to:

Hikari Shinwa - Palutena no Kagami AKA Kid Icarus

Produced by Gunpei Yokoi, Hikari Shinwa (literally "Myth of Light - The Mirror of Palutena") is sort of a follow up to Metroid. However, while Metroid focused on exploration + item gathering in a large, non-linear setting, this game is more action based + straightforward. Most levels are completely linear, though usually vertically orientated. …Hikari is definitely not the classic that Metroid was, but still manages to be a solid, fun + occasionally very difficult platformer. One major issue is the curiously inverted difficulty level. Your character Pit starts off very weak, with almost no attack power + a short life bar. As Pit obtains new weapons throughout the game he gradually changes into an unstoppable killing machine. …Regardless, Hikari Shinwa still stands heads above the other games this episode.

Other titles of note:

Layla

…Layla still manages to be a slightly better than average run-and-gun game. It features a Samus Aran like space chick who blows through various asteroid/space station levels, killing everything in sight + … weapons + ammo. TONS of weapons + ammo… At a time when Castlevania's two weapon system was still fresh + new, the ability to switch between a dozen or so weapons seems way ahead of its time…

Arkanoid

Taito ports their often-copied arcade hit to the Famicom, complete with a special rotary controller. Unfortunately, Konami had just released a very cool Arkanoid copycat called Nazo no Kabe (covered in Chrontendo Episode 13). Arkanoid's main strength/weakness is the special controller. Having the controller allows you to more replicate the arcade experience, while not having the controller renders the game virtually unplayable.

Seikima II

OK, OK! So Seikima II is not a good game! It is still the wackiest game this episode, + thus earns an honorable mention. The Famicom debut from Sony… Seikima II is based on a… Japanese rock band that was popular in the 80s… The game itself is a pretty standard platformer…

The Legend of Zelda 2 - Link no Bouken/Zelda 2 - The Adventures of Link

The last game covered this episode in the famously disappointing Zelda 2. The black sheep in the Zelda family… The Adventures of Link radically alters the formula that made the first game one of the most successful titles for the Famicom. …Judged on its own merits, Zelda 2 is a good, but flawed game. Compared to its predecessor, however, it can't help but be a let down.

This episode's brown medals go to:

Cosmo Genesis/Star Voyager

This Star Raiders clone from ASCII adds a few new elements to the formula, but still suffers from poor execution…

Tatakai no Banka/Trojan

After releasing a string of early classics such as 1942, Commando + Ghosts 'n Goblins, Capcom unleashed this dud. A side-scrolling futuristic beat-em-up, Trojan simply fails to capture the magic of those earlier titles…

This episode's utterly puzzling game:

Moeta Princess - Puzzling Zelda-like adventure game, heavy on the Japanese

The Rest:

Toki no Tabito: Time Stranger - Very simple text adventure game from Kemco.
Electrician - Another oddity from Kemco, this is a port of an old Atari computer game.
Dragon Buster - Port of Namco's ahead-of-its-time fantasy themed arcade game.
Hi no Tori: Wagaou no Bouken - A licensed property from Konami, based on an Osamu Tezuka manga.
Mahjong Goku - The third Mahjong game for the Famicom. It won't be the last.
Crazy Climber - Port of Nichibutsu's arcade classic, which requires a special controller.
Family Trainer: Running Stadium - Another game in Bandai's Family Trainer series.
Labyrinth - Action adventure game based on the Henson/Lucas film. This Tokuma Shoten
release is completely different than the LucasArts game, + is possibly developed by Atlus!

As always, Chrontendo Episode 14 may be downloaded at archive.org here: http://www.archive.org/details/Chrontendo_Vol_14 "